The dark side of Artificial Intelligence – Risks arising in dating applications

Hiding behind a smartphone screen, online dating applications provide a playground of opportunity for fraudsters and scammers. With ease of access to artificial intelligence, the technological capabilities of nefarious individuals are quickly growing. From sophisticated chatbots designed to engage in conversations and extract personal data, to deepfake technology used to create convincing false personas. This article summarises the current and upcoming risks which artificial intelligence poses to dating application and social media users. Deepfake technology is a key risk; the world is experiencing greater use of attractive deepfake images to convince dating app users into involvement in a romance scam, face-swaps to target and blackmail social media users with their intimate images, and instant generation of child sexual abuse material. Other risks include stalkers tracking their victims with greater ease, and individuals downloading nefarious dating applications which utilise chatbots to gather information and get paid. Gaps in empirical research are identified and discussed.